Re: FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism

[Steven Schear]

Reminds me of the "What have the Roman's ever done for us?" skit in Monty
Python's "Life of Brian"
https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DExWfh6sGyso

Warrant Canary creator

On Dec 5, 2016 8:15 PM, "Razer"  wrote:

> I think I've found the worst article of 2016...
>
> Illustrated: https://listverse.com/2016/12/03/10-surprising-upsides-to-
> colonialism/
>
> "Colonialism gets a bad rep these days, often with good reason. You’d have
> to be a madman to look at King Leopold’s adventures in the Congo, for
> example, and conclude that the Belgians were awesome imperial overlords.
> Same deal with the slave-trading powers.
>
> But that’s not the whole story of colonialism. Move beyond the headline
> atrocities, and a more nuanced picture begins to emerge. Far from being a
> nonstop cavalcade of horrors, colonialism often resulted in some seriously
> awesome, surprising stuff.
>
>
> 10 Spreading Good Government
>
> Most of us kind of take democracy and functioning government for granted.
> But a largely democratic world was by no means inevitable. For most of
> human history, “government” meant a military dictator or crazy king telling
> you precisely where to live, what to wear, and when to die in battle for
> some pointless cause.
>
> So why does most of the world now at least pay lip service to democratic
> norms? For that, you can thank the European colonial powers. Wherever the
> British went, they instituted governments that looked like their own. That
> meant parliaments, an efficient civil service, and a basic package of
> democracy. The French, meanwhile, folded their conquered territories into
> France itself, promoting Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.
>
> When decolonization finally rolled around, many of those democratic
> institutions remained in place.
>
>
> 9 Creating Modern Medicine
>
> For colonial powers, tropical diseases were a constant pain in the
> derriere. Asia, Africa, and South America were swimming in bugs that had a
> nasty tendency to kill colonists and subjects alike. That meant unnecessary
> expenditure, time and men lost, and a problem extracting that sweet, sweet
> natural wealth.
>
> The solution? Throw everything modern medicine had at the problem.
>
> Europe was at the vanguard of modern medicine in the 19th century. The
> British discovered the antimalarial properties of quinine, which is still
> our only effective antimalarial. The French became specialists in tropical
> medicine thanks to their North African holdings. Public health in general
> received a massive boost thanks to techniques learned in the chaos of the
> colonies.
>
> Even conquered natives benefited from this, in the form of hospitals and
> new treatments pioneered in Europe. It’s no stretch to say modern medicine
> is a by-product of imperialism.
>
>
> 8 Economic Booms
>
> Of course, colonialism isn’t something that exists only in that fairy tale
> land we call “the past.” Welcome to Africa, where the Chinese are engaging
> in a massive exercise in 21st-century colonialism. According to Zambian
> economist Dambisa Moyo, the resulting economic boom has been the best thing
> to happen to the continent in decades.
>
> Her data shows that this new colonialism has created jobs for millions of
> Africans and lifted many out of poverty. The boon from Chinese investment
> has massively benefited the poor in Africa and China alike.
>
> That’s not to say all colonial adventures improve people’s lives. Spanish
> dalliances in the New World memorably crashed Spain’s economy. But it does
> show that imperialism can be handled well, in a way that benefits the many
> rather than the few.
>
>
> 7 Global Languages
>
> Remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Humans were getting all uppity
> with their engineering prowess, so God scrambled their languages so they
> could no longer cooperate. Well, colonialism was sort of like that in
> reverse. From hundreds of thousands of different tongues, the age of
> empires whittled humanity down to just a handful of big ones.
>
> Seriously. There are currently 106 countries where English is spoken, many
> of them former colonies. Spanish is spoken in 31, modern standard Arabic in
> 58, and French in 53. Taken together, pretty much the entire world speaks
> at least a smattering of English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian, or
> Mandarin—all languages associated with imperial nations. And that has
> massive advantages.
>
> The ability to communicate breaks down barriers to trade and
> understanding. It allows wildly different countries to find common ground.
> While it’s not a prerequisite, it’s certainly helpful in uniting people.
>
>
> 6 The Creation Of Modern Art
>
> Who likes Picasso? What about Art Deco architecture? Or modern sculpture?
> We’re betting that at least half of you said yes to one of those. In that
> case, you should probably be thankful for French and British colonization
> of Africa. It was the display of African tribal art in Paris and London at
> the dawn of the 20th ce

Re: FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Tue, Dec 06, 2016 at 07:02:09AM -0800, Razer wrote:
> 
> 
> On 12/06/2016 03:28 AM, John Newman wrote:
> > I think you're right. "creation of modern tourism" wtf?  SAVED
> > millions of lives? which lives?
> >
> > Yeah, despicable shit. Surprised Zen didn't post it. It fits his white
> > European dominance narrative perfectly.
> >
> > -- 
> > John
> 
> Definitely 'history written by the victors, for the victors'
> 
> Rr

Comprehending someone's actual views and hopes takes more than
blunt mis-statement. Flippancy halts not failure.

Re: FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism

[Razer]

On 12/06/2016 03:28 AM, John Newman wrote:
> I think you're right. "creation of modern tourism" wtf?  SAVED
> millions of lives? which lives?
>
> Yeah, despicable shit. Surprised Zen didn't post it. It fits his white
> European dominance narrative perfectly.
>
> -- 
> John

Definitely 'history written by the victors, for the victors'

Rr

>
> On Dec 5, 2016, at 11:15 PM, Razer  > wrote:
>
>> I think I've found the worst article of 2016...
>>
>> Illustrated:
>> https://listverse.com/2016/12/03/10-surprising-upsides-to-colonialism/
>>
>> "Colonialism gets a bad rep these days, often with good reason. You’d
>> have to be a madman to look at King Leopold’s adventures in the
>> Congo, for example, and conclude that the Belgians were awesome
>> imperial overlords. Same deal with the slave-trading powers.
>>
>> But that’s not the whole story of colonialism. Move beyond the
>> headline atrocities, and a more nuanced picture begins to emerge. Far
>> from being a nonstop cavalcade of horrors, colonialism often resulted
>> in some seriously awesome, surprising stuff.
>>
>>
>> 10 Spreading Good Government
>>
>> Most of us kind of take democracy and functioning government for
>> granted. But a largely democratic world was by no means inevitable.
>> For most of human history, “government” meant a military dictator or
>> crazy king telling you precisely where to live, what to wear, and
>> when to die in battle for some pointless cause.
>>
>> So why does most of the world now at least pay lip service to
>> democratic norms? For that, you can thank the European colonial
>> powers. Wherever the British went, they instituted governments that
>> looked like their own. That meant parliaments, an efficient civil
>> service, and a basic package of democracy. The French, meanwhile,
>> folded their conquered territories into France itself, promoting
>> Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.
>>
>> When decolonization finally rolled around, many of those democratic
>> institutions remained in place.
>>
>>
>> 9 Creating Modern Medicine
>>
>> For colonial powers, tropical diseases were a constant pain in the
>> derriere. Asia, Africa, and South America were swimming in bugs that
>> had a nasty tendency to kill colonists and subjects alike. That meant
>> unnecessary expenditure, time and men lost, and a problem extracting
>> that sweet, sweet natural wealth.
>>
>> The solution? Throw everything modern medicine had at the problem.
>>
>> Europe was at the vanguard of modern medicine in the 19th century.
>> The British discovered the antimalarial properties of quinine, which
>> is still our only effective antimalarial. The French became
>> specialists in tropical medicine thanks to their North African
>> holdings. Public health in general received a massive boost thanks to
>> techniques learned in the chaos of the colonies.
>>
>> Even conquered natives benefited from this, in the form of hospitals
>> and new treatments pioneered in Europe. It’s no stretch to say modern
>> medicine is a by-product of imperialism.
>>
>>
>> 8 Economic Booms
>>
>> Of course, colonialism isn’t something that exists only in that fairy
>> tale land we call “the past.” Welcome to Africa, where the Chinese
>> are engaging in a massive exercise in 21st-century colonialism.
>> According to Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, the resulting economic
>> boom has been the best thing to happen to the continent in decades.
>>
>> Her data shows that this new colonialism has created jobs for
>> millions of Africans and lifted many out of poverty. The boon from
>> Chinese investment has massively benefited the poor in Africa and
>> China alike.
>>
>> That’s not to say all colonial adventures improve people’s lives.
>> Spanish dalliances in the New World memorably crashed Spain’s
>> economy. But it does show that imperialism can be handled well, in a
>> way that benefits the many rather than the few.
>>
>>
>> 7 Global Languages
>>
>> Remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Humans were getting all
>> uppity with their engineering prowess, so God scrambled their
>> languages so they could no longer cooperate. Well, colonialism was
>> sort of like that in reverse. From hundreds of thousands of different
>> tongues, the age of empires whittled humanity down to just a handful
>> of big ones.
>>
>> Seriously. There are currently 106 countries where English is spoken,
>> many of them former colonies. Spanish is spoken in 31, modern
>> standard Arabic in 58, and French in 53. Taken together, pretty much
>> the entire world speaks at least a smattering of English, Spanish,
>> Arabic, French, Russian, or Mandarin—all languages associated with
>> imperial nations. And that has massive advantages.
>>
>> The ability to communicate breaks down barriers to trade and
>> understanding. It allows wildly different countries to find common
>> ground. While it’s not a prerequisite, it’s certainly helpful in
>> uniting people.
>>
>>
>> 6 The Creation Of Modern Art
>>
>> Who likes 

Re: FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism

[John Newman]

I think you're right. "creation of modern tourism" wtf?  SAVED millions of 
lives? which lives?

Yeah, despicable shit. Surprised Zen didn't post it. It fits his white European 
dominance narrative perfectly.

--
John

> On Dec 5, 2016, at 11:15 PM, Razer  wrote:
> 
> I think I've found the worst article of 2016...
> 
> Illustrated: 
> https://listverse.com/2016/12/03/10-surprising-upsides-to-colonialism/
> 
> "Colonialism gets a bad rep these days, often with good reason. You’d have to 
> be a madman to look at King Leopold’s adventures in the Congo, for example, 
> and conclude that the Belgians were awesome imperial overlords. Same deal 
> with the slave-trading powers.
> 
> But that’s not the whole story of colonialism. Move beyond the headline 
> atrocities, and a more nuanced picture begins to emerge. Far from being a 
> nonstop cavalcade of horrors, colonialism often resulted in some seriously 
> awesome, surprising stuff.
> 
> 
> 10 Spreading Good Government
> 
> Most of us kind of take democracy and functioning government for granted. But 
> a largely democratic world was by no means inevitable. For most of human 
> history, “government” meant a military dictator or crazy king telling you 
> precisely where to live, what to wear, and when to die in battle for some 
> pointless cause.
> 
> So why does most of the world now at least pay lip service to democratic 
> norms? For that, you can thank the European colonial powers. Wherever the 
> British went, they instituted governments that looked like their own. That 
> meant parliaments, an efficient civil service, and a basic package of 
> democracy. The French, meanwhile, folded their conquered territories into 
> France itself, promoting Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.
> 
> When decolonization finally rolled around, many of those democratic 
> institutions remained in place.
> 
> 
> 9 Creating Modern Medicine
> 
> For colonial powers, tropical diseases were a constant pain in the derriere. 
> Asia, Africa, and South America were swimming in bugs that had a nasty 
> tendency to kill colonists and subjects alike. That meant unnecessary 
> expenditure, time and men lost, and a problem extracting that sweet, sweet 
> natural wealth.
> 
> The solution? Throw everything modern medicine had at the problem.
> 
> Europe was at the vanguard of modern medicine in the 19th century. The 
> British discovered the antimalarial properties of quinine, which is still our 
> only effective antimalarial. The French became specialists in tropical 
> medicine thanks to their North African holdings. Public health in general 
> received a massive boost thanks to techniques learned in the chaos of the 
> colonies.
> 
> Even conquered natives benefited from this, in the form of hospitals and new 
> treatments pioneered in Europe. It’s no stretch to say modern medicine is a 
> by-product of imperialism.
> 
> 
> 8 Economic Booms
> 
> Of course, colonialism isn’t something that exists only in that fairy tale 
> land we call “the past.” Welcome to Africa, where the Chinese are engaging in 
> a massive exercise in 21st-century colonialism. According to Zambian 
> economist Dambisa Moyo, the resulting economic boom has been the best thing 
> to happen to the continent in decades.
> 
> Her data shows that this new colonialism has created jobs for millions of 
> Africans and lifted many out of poverty. The boon from Chinese investment has 
> massively benefited the poor in Africa and China alike.
> 
> That’s not to say all colonial adventures improve people’s lives. Spanish 
> dalliances in the New World memorably crashed Spain’s economy. But it does 
> show that imperialism can be handled well, in a way that benefits the many 
> rather than the few.
> 
> 
> 7 Global Languages
> 
> Remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Humans were getting all uppity with 
> their engineering prowess, so God scrambled their languages so they could no 
> longer cooperate. Well, colonialism was sort of like that in reverse. From 
> hundreds of thousands of different tongues, the age of empires whittled 
> humanity down to just a handful of big ones.
> 
> Seriously. There are currently 106 countries where English is spoken, many of 
> them former colonies. Spanish is spoken in 31, modern standard Arabic in 58, 
> and French in 53. Taken together, pretty much the entire world speaks at 
> least a smattering of English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian, or 
> Mandarin—all languages associated with imperial nations. And that has massive 
> advantages.
> 
> The ability to communicate breaks down barriers to trade and understanding. 
> It allows wildly different countries to find common ground. While it’s not a 
> prerequisite, it’s certainly helpful in uniting people.
> 
> 
> 6 The Creation Of Modern Art
> 
> Who likes Picasso? What about Art Deco architecture? Or modern sculpture? 
> We’re betting that at least half of you said yes to one of those. In that 
> case, you should probably be thankful for Fr

FYI: 10 Surprising Upsides To Colonialism

[Razer]

I think I've found the worst article of 2016...

Illustrated:
https://listverse.com/2016/12/03/10-surprising-upsides-to-colonialism/

"Colonialism gets a bad rep these days, often with good reason. You’d
have to be a madman to look at King Leopold’s adventures in the Congo,
for example, and conclude that the Belgians were awesome imperial
overlords. Same deal with the slave-trading powers.

But that’s not the whole story of colonialism. Move beyond the headline
atrocities, and a more nuanced picture begins to emerge. Far from being
a nonstop cavalcade of horrors, colonialism often resulted in some
seriously awesome, surprising stuff.


10 Spreading Good Government

Most of us kind of take democracy and functioning government for
granted. But a largely democratic world was by no means inevitable. For
most of human history, “government” meant a military dictator or crazy
king telling you precisely where to live, what to wear, and when to die
in battle for some pointless cause.

So why does most of the world now at least pay lip service to democratic
norms? For that, you can thank the European colonial powers. Wherever
the British went, they instituted governments that looked like their
own. That meant parliaments, an efficient civil service, and a basic
package of democracy. The French, meanwhile, folded their conquered
territories into France itself, promoting Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.

When decolonization finally rolled around, many of those democratic
institutions remained in place.


9 Creating Modern Medicine

For colonial powers, tropical diseases were a constant pain in the
derriere. Asia, Africa, and South America were swimming in bugs that had
a nasty tendency to kill colonists and subjects alike. That meant
unnecessary expenditure, time and men lost, and a problem extracting
that sweet, sweet natural wealth.

The solution? Throw everything modern medicine had at the problem.

Europe was at the vanguard of modern medicine in the 19th century. The
British discovered the antimalarial properties of quinine, which is
still our only effective antimalarial. The French became specialists in
tropical medicine thanks to their North African holdings. Public health
in general received a massive boost thanks to techniques learned in the
chaos of the colonies.

Even conquered natives benefited from this, in the form of hospitals and
new treatments pioneered in Europe. It’s no stretch to say modern
medicine is a by-product of imperialism.


8 Economic Booms

Of course, colonialism isn’t something that exists only in that fairy
tale land we call “the past.” Welcome to Africa, where the Chinese are
engaging in a massive exercise in 21st-century colonialism. According to
Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, the resulting economic boom has been the
best thing to happen to the continent in decades.

Her data shows that this new colonialism has created jobs for millions
of Africans and lifted many out of poverty. The boon from Chinese
investment has massively benefited the poor in Africa and China alike.

That’s not to say all colonial adventures improve people’s lives.
Spanish dalliances in the New World memorably crashed Spain’s economy.
But it does show that imperialism can be handled well, in a way that
benefits the many rather than the few.


7 Global Languages

Remember the story of the Tower of Babel? Humans were getting all uppity
with their engineering prowess, so God scrambled their languages so they
could no longer cooperate. Well, colonialism was sort of like that in
reverse. From hundreds of thousands of different tongues, the age of
empires whittled humanity down to just a handful of big ones.

Seriously. There are currently 106 countries where English is spoken,
many of them former colonies. Spanish is spoken in 31, modern standard
Arabic in 58, and French in 53. Taken together, pretty much the entire
world speaks at least a smattering of English, Spanish, Arabic, French,
Russian, or Mandarin—all languages associated with imperial nations. And
that has massive advantages.

The ability to communicate breaks down barriers to trade and
understanding. It allows wildly different countries to find common
ground. While it’s not a prerequisite, it’s certainly helpful in uniting
people.


6 The Creation Of Modern Art

Who likes Picasso? What about Art Deco architecture? Or modern
sculpture? We’re betting that at least half of you said yes to one of
those. In that case, you should probably be thankful for French and
British colonization of Africa. It was the display of African tribal art
in Paris and London at the dawn of the 20th century that inspired all of
these movements.

Artists like Picasso and Matisse saw the treasures from the Ivory Coast
or Benin City and were inspired. Architects were seduced by the simple,
powerful forms of ruined African temples. It was the imperial trade that
brought these objects to public view and allowed them to inspire
everyone from designers to artists to architects.

It’s incred